St. Maurice, as depicted by the 14th Century Czech painter "Master Theodoricus of Prague", circa 1360. St. Maurice was supposed to be an Egyptian and Coptic Christian general who served in the Roman Army, and was martyred after refusing to kill rebellious civilians in what is now Switzerland. He was typically depicted as a Sub-Saharan African. As one of the handful of "military saints" he was extremely popular in Europe especially with the knightly class, and was the patron saint of Charlemagne, of the Holy Roman Empire, of many towns in Germany and Switzerland (including St. Moritz, his namesake).